Our Disney Cruise...Days 1-3

I decided to break up our trip into a few posts or else it would be way too long.  Because, of course being me, I took about 5 million pictures! But, if I could sum this trip up into one word it would be...
P E R F E C T.

It was probably the best 6 days of my life!  Disney sure does do it right and treated us all like royalty. I know you all probably won't read this whole post, but I have to record it all since its our family journal and all the little details are important :)

For those of you who don't know, we took a 6 day Caribbean Disney cruise. Our ship stopped at the Cayman Islands and Cozumel Mexico.

And I have to say  I think it was equally enjoyable for Craig and I and the kids. There was so much stuff to do for all of us. They had 2 different kids clubs that we could check the kids into. I felt safe leaving them there because there were so many staff members watching them, there were locked gates, and you had to check the kids in and out with your ship card and magic password, PLUS they each had coded bracelets so they were scanned in and out. So, there were no escaping kids. Not that they would want to! They had so many fun activities for the kids like: Making Flubber, Dancing with Snow White and the 7 dwarfs, flying with Tinkerbell, Hunting for Hefulumps, Pirate Training, pajama party, fun with Peter Pan and the lost boys...the list goes on and on. And, if they didn't want to do any of the activities, they also had games, crafts, puzzles and a giant movie screen with bean bags. It was hard getting them out of there because there was so much to do.  I wasn't allowed to take any pictures inside the clubs. But, they had a BLAST!

Our first day of the Cruise was a little crazy. The cruise before us was stuck out at sea because of the serious fog, so we had to wait for them to get back and disembark before we could get on. So we were 7 hours late boarding. We were supposed to be on the boat at 1pm and didn't get on till 8pm. Lots of waiting and we were all anxious hoping the weather would cooperate. But, once we got on the boat everything was fine. We went and ate dinner and then headed to bed so we could be ready for a day of fun in the morning!

 In the morning the kids were up early and ready to go! We had a great room with a balcony.

At night the staff came in and prepared the room for sleeping. That couch turns into a bunk bed and there is a murphy bed that folded down from the wall. It was surprisingly really roomy. Our maid service came 2x a day. In the morning to clean, make the beds and put beds away.  Then at night they came gave us "towel animals" and what the kids called our, "sleeping chocolates" because we weren't getting enough sweets already :) And they also put the beds all down for us. Each night they left us a "ship Navigator" for the next day. It listed all the activities on the ship so we could plan what we wanted to do the next day.
 

For the first 2 days we were on the ship traveling to the Cayman Islands. I got a patch from the Dr. that I wore behind my ear so that I wouldn't get sea sick and it actually worked really well. I couldn't believe how huge this ship was! 3 dinning rooms, 2 buffet rooms, 3 pool areas with hot tubs (one with a giant screen tv and one just for Adults Only), a movie theater, a concert hall theater room, 2 kids clubs, and tons of other areas all through out the ship. Needless to say there was TONS to do. The first morning we got there we went to a "Characters Breakfast" all the different characters came around to our table to meet us and get pictures. I wish I had my flash because the pictures aren't so great, but at least I got some.

 Then our waitresses came around and made us into Disney Characters with our napkins. Everyone in the dinning room got it done.
A really nice thing that Disney does is that you have the same servers all through out your cruise. Our 2 ladies followed us to all 3 of our different dinning rooms. They got to know each of our kids, knew what drinks they liked, cut up their food for them, even wiped their faces! They were SO AMAZING and we loved them and looked forward to seeing them at each meal.

Throughout the entire cruise we ate A LOT. Meals are unlimited. You can order whatever you like and it doesn't cost you anything extra. I got dessert every night...maybe two :)

and Piper got ice cream after every meal and was really excited about that :) No rules on vacation right?

And we got room service several times. The kids LOVED that.

 I gained 5 pounds in a week!  haha.

On the second day they had all the princess in the main lobby, so of course the girls had to get all dressed up and meet them.

 We got to meet Peter Pan along the way :)

 After that, the kids activity of choice was swimming...


We got them some goggles for the trip and they were obsessed with them.

 This first time we went swimming, the "Mickey Mouse" pool was being serviced and the kids didn't want to swim in the goofy pool because it was too deep. So we spent an hour in the 2 hot tubs they had. They were crammed with little kids because of the other pool being closed. But, our kids didn't care one bit! They had sooo much fun.

I cant get over how sweet Mckay can be with his little sisters.  He made sure little Pip was safe and taken care of  and I didn't even ask him to.

 Ya, Piper has everyone wrapped around her little finger...

After an hour the Mickey Pool opened up and the kids had fun playing and going down the water slide LOTS of times except for Pip who was too little.

 Then of course it had been 2 hours since we had eaten so we were famished. haha! See why I gained 5 pounds? They had 2 different buffets and fast food places near the pool. Pizza break...

That night Craig and I went to "Palo" Restaurant to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. It was on the top of the ship and super fancy. You had to make reservations and it was an extra $20 per person. But, $40 for a 7 course meal in the fanciest restaurant I have ever eaten in is pretty dang good I think. We dropped the kids at the club and had a super romatical evening.

I got the lamb and it was amazing!!!

 "one" of the desserts. haha

 They even got sparkling cider for us non drinkers which I thought was really sweet of them. Look at my handsome man. Can't believe it has been 10 years!

 This souffle was the BEST thing I have ever eaten! Our waiter insisted we each get one instead of trying to share. He was right because there was NO WAY I was going to share this!

Every-night they had a different play in the theater. If you ever go on a cruise I recommend choosing "Early seating" for your dinning. We ate at 5:45pm every night and then our show was at 8:15pm. It worked out perfectly with no lines or waiting. We went to the show each night and they were each SO good! We weren't allowed to take pictures...but being the rebel I am, I sneaked a few. This was from my favorite called "Villians" It had Hades, Pain & Panic, Ursula, the witch from Snow White, and Maleficent...to name just a few. It was hilarious!

When we came out of the show, Donald Duck was in the Lobby and the kids got to meet him. He especially loved our little Snow White and had to dance with her.

 Yes, Piper wore a princess dress around the ship every day. She wouldn't have it any other way and it was adorable :) I think there was only a couple times she was actually in real clothes.

When we got back to our room after our show, our towel animal was there to greet us.

The next 2 days went by so fast...actually this whole cruise went by way too fast. Some things we did while we were on the ship: We went to "Wreck it Ralph" in the theater. Went to a towel folding class because the kids wanted to learn how to fold them and they LOVED it. Craig and I went to a cooking class and learned how to make the Lamb that we had at Palo. YUM! We went to a family friendly comedy and magic show. Got lots of ice cream at the ice cream bar open 24/7. Meet lots of characters and Craig and I took several naps while the kids played in the clubs.  That may seem like a waste of time to some people, but taking a nap is a luxury to us.We also got to hang out in the peaceful "Adults Only" area and sip hot cocoa or Pina Coladas.

My favorite days are coming up...Pirates Night, Swimming with sting rays, and hanging out at Paradise Beach...stay tuned!